The Anglican General Synod will meet in York from 5 to 7 July. At the top of the agenda of the organ that controls the Church of England, and that is composed of bishops, clergy and laity, is the “Anglican Covenant”, or “Anglican Pact”: the deal that is calculated to prevent a schism in the Communion that comprises seventy million believers worldwide. As is well known, the Anglican provinces in the southern hemisphere – Africa, Asia and South America – are contrary to homosexual unions and ordinations, whereas in those of the West, and especially in the USA, homosexual priests are ordained and homosexual partnerships receive the Church’s blessing. The crisis was triggered four years ago when the American Episcopalian Church (US version of Anglicanism) ordained the first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson. The “Anglican Pact” would oblige the various provinces to consult the Communion before taking important decisions and invites the Anglican dioceses that have contributed to the split over the problem of gay ordinations to express repentance. The Anglican Primates drafted the four-page accord in February and each of the 38 provinces that represent the Anglican Communion throughout the world is being asked to endorse it by the end of the year. If this version of the pact is approved, a final draft will then be presented next summer when the Anglican bishops will meet in Canterbury for the Lambeth Conference. In a message to Anglicans Archbishop Rowan Williams, Primate of the Church of England, called the Covenant “a response to the crisis” and not “a means of having a schism”.
